Chapter Text
Today was a fairly normal, uneventful day in New Eridu. Specifically, Sixth Street, located within the Janus Quarter. It was still fairly early morning, 10 a.m. to be precise. There wasn't any reports of Hollow activity, the weather was pleasant with a sunny day with blue skies dotted with white clouds. It was fairly warm, but not too hot, nor chilly. It was a pretty good Saturday morning, all things considered. The perfect day for Officer Zhu Yuan, a Captain in the New Eridu Public Security, or N.E.P.S. for short, to make good on getting closer to a certain manager of a cozy little video rental store know simply as "Random Play".
She had begun to make her way out of the nearby metro station, departing from her home near Lumina Square, which was close to where the N.E.P.S. headquarters was located for the Lumina Branch.
Alright, Zhu Yuan, this will be nice and easy. Nothing too serious or crazy. Just take it slow and natural. Don't do anything weird or off-putting. Wise is a pretty down to earth guy, so he surely doesn't want any drama or strange people in his life. Just chat him up a little bit, ask him out for coffee or something casual, get his number for contact purposes, set a date, and go on from there. Nothing complicated. Easy.
Zhu Yuan let out a sigh to calm her nerves. Except for her, it wasn't so easy. She was in her early twenties, 24 to be precise, and she hadn't gone out on a proper date with someone yet. She had been nagged by her parents several times about it, asking her about her love life, when she planned to maybe find someone and get serious, perhaps settle down. Start a family eventually. You know, the typical parental nagging one would get about grand-children, and bringing someone respectable home to "meet mom and dad". Zhu Yuan had a great relationship with her parents, and honestly, it made sense for them to be concerned, but still... it could be a bit suffocating at times. She tried her best, and she'd been working hard on establishing herself in her career to really care about such things.
There was, however, and additional problem at the moment...
"Hello, Earth to Zhu Yuan...anybody there?" A female voice called out to her, getting her attention.
That's right, Zhu Yuan was suddenly reminded, Miyabi tagged along today...
Zhu Yuan was taken out of her thoughts and cleared her throat to regain her composure, turning to her friend, "Ah, sorry there, Miyabi. I didn't mean to space out just now. What was it that you asked me?"
Miyabi playfully rolled her eyes and let out a joking sigh, "I was asking about your plans for the day. You mentioned that you wanted to stop at the coffee shop here, and then after, you wanted to investigate the gardening supply shop nearby, and then after, you said something about renting a video tape, is that correct?"
Zhu Yuan had the slightest blush on her face upon hearing the video store get mentioned, but she remembered her present company and shook those thoughts away for now, "That's right, Miyabi. After, if you have anywhere that you wanted to stop by, please feel free to mention it and we can go there after," she responded.
Miyabi's ears perked up a bit as she smiled, as if remembering something, "Ah, yes! I remember now that there was a quaint little music shop nearby that sold vinyl records. I wanted to come along today to see what they had in stock. I hear that there's a niche genre of music called "Polar Metal" and was intrigued by such a strange sounding type of music."
Zhu Yuan frowned, "Polar Metal, huh? Yeah, that's definitely not my cup of tea at all, but I'll be happy to help you try to find something that you like in return for coming along with me today."
Miyabi clasped her hands together, "Great, it's settled then! Let us proceed. I hear that the coffee shop has quite a good quality and variety when it comes to coffee flavor selection. I was looking at their menu and the Barley Latte sounds refreshing."
The two proceeded along toward the coffee shop, oblivious to the group of high-school girls hanging out nearby the arcade, one of them having a distinctly noticeable shark tail, nor to the pink haired girl passing them by with a fancy looking briefcase.
For this moment, ignorance was truly bliss.
Or, perhaps, it was merely the calm before the storm.
END CHAPTER 1